There is a major upside to BYOD, but trying to find it has been difficult for companies

Companies are finding out the hard way that employees enjoying a ‘bring your own device’ policy can open the door to costly security issues and loss of productivity.

The wider adoption of BYOD increases the risk of security breaches, according to recently published research, with only a small number of businesses creating BYOD policies.

“Last year was clearly a bumpy road for companies introducing personal devices at work,” said Tony Grace, Virgin Media Business COO, in a press statement. “That’s natural enough as no-one has so far been able to come up with the magic solution. CIOs shouldn’t see this as a burden and in 2013 they can take the lessons learned and turn these personal devices into business enablers to really help drive the bottom line.”

Late last year, a CounterTack survey of IT security officials revealed that most companies are clearly unprepared to tackle BYOD policy.

Companies initially save money by avoiding an initial investment of purchasing smartphones and tablets for employees, though may invest more in the long-term due to BYOD-related costs.

Some security experts have dubbed BYOD as ‘bring your own disaster,’ though password protection, encrypted data, and disabling apps provide temporary security shortcuts to help aid in data loss. Adoping virtual private network (VPN) use and remote lock and wipe functionality on compromised mobile devices are becoming popular solutions to limit damage in case of a security issue related to BYOD.

Research In Motion, the struggling maker of the BlackBerry line of smartphones, has partnered with VMware and Red Bend Software to help develop a BYOD technology for enterprise employees. Utilizing BlackBerry Balance software, workers can use their own smartphones or tablets without compromising privacy or security, and can help split personal and work tasks.

I don’t think there is an easy answer to solve all BYOD issues, although it’s up to the company to create BYOD rules – and work with the IT department to find adequate solutions.